This is a strange world indeed and sometimes some people surprise us by their decisions. To some of us, Heavy Metal is more than a genre of music, a way to live … Now read a story about a school boy who saves his pocket money which he earned by doing some jobs for his family, so that he could buy a guitar he always wanted, a Fender Stratocaster to play his favourite track, “Smoke On The Water.” Isn’t it a great choice? Isn’t Metal great?

Elizabeth Bernstein of The Wall Street Journal has posted the whole story as follows:

When Luke Flottman was 8 years old, he got tired of not having any money to buy videogames. So he lobbied his parents for chores—yard work, dishes, making all the beds in the house—to earn some cash. “I knew they weren’t just going to hand it to me,” says the 13-year-old eighth-grader from Cold Spring, Ky.

He made a few dollars a job, sometimes scoring as much as $15 for counting money his dad, Peter, brought home from the soda machine at the printing company he owns. To eliminate inconsistency, Luke and his parents settled on a standard $4 a week.

It’s not much. (In five years, he hasn’t gotten a raise.) But it all goes to the same thing: his passion for rock ‘n’ roll. A big fan of Ozzy Osbourne‘s “Crazy Train” and anything by Metallica, Luke got his first acoustic guitar at age 5 and started weekly lessons at a local music store the same year. A few Christmases later, his guitar arsenal had grown to three.

Then one day a few years ago, Luke arrived early for his lesson and fell in love with a newly arrived cherry-sunburst Squier Stratocaster by Fender (cost: $230). For nine months, he saved every dime of allowance and gift money. Sure, he says, he was occasionally tempted by a new PlayStation console or an Airsoft pellet gun, but the iconic instrument always won out. “I thought: videogames come and go,” he says. “But I can use a guitar for a really long time.”

Now, Luke plays his guitar at home (one favorite tune: “Smoke on the Water”) and with the choir during Mass at school. And, he says, he’s learned to value money. “I don’t get a ton, but I get enough, so if I want something, I have to save and save.”

He currently has “about $500 or $600” stashed away, but no plans yet for another big-ticket purchase. On a recent family vacation to California, he says, he eked out just a little for souvenirs.

“Having an allowance teaches me how to use my money in smart ways,” he says. “I’m pretty good about my spending.”

* Clever Luke Flottman, Respect and Regards from Metal Shock Finland.